On Thursday, Buffalo head coach Dan Bylsma revealed Bogosian suffered an MCL sprain, an ailment that would keep him out of the lineup for “weeks,” per the Times Herald.

The loss is going to sting, no doubt.

In his second full season (third overall) with the Sabres, Bogosian was looking to build upon a solid ’15-16 campaign, one in which he scored seven goals and 24 points in 64 games, while averaging over 22 minutes a night.

The former third overall pick had struggled a bit this season — pointless through nine games — and his TOI had dropped to just below 19 minutes. But he was still a vital contributor on the Sabres’ back end.

Drouin was knocked out of Tuesday’s game early in the first period, following a hit from Isles d-man Calvin de Haan. De Haan was given a five-minute interference major on the play, while Drouin left and didn’t return, finishing with just 18 seconds of ice time.

“He was in good spirits after the game,” Cooper said of Drouin, per NHL.com.

Offensively, the high-flying Bolts are more than equipped to deal with Drouin’s absence, though it will still be a significant loss. The 21-year-old, coming off last year’s impressive postseason and strong effort with Team North America at the World Cup, had five points through 10 games this year, and was averaging 16:35 TOI per night.

After tonight, the Bolts host New Jersey on Saturday before heading down to Sunrise for a Monday night tilt against the Florida Panthers.

So, why the move back home? Apparently Frolunda had a loan agreement in place with Anaheim that allowed for the promising young d-man’s return, to the club that groomed him through the youth and junior ranks.

Last season Larsson played in 47 games for Frolunda, scoring 14 points.

The 6-foot-2, 191-pounder probably wasn’t going to see much more time at the NHL level this year — if at all — especially with Anaheim’s defense coming into full focus. Hampus Lindholm, who recently signed a six-year, $31.5 million extension, is expected to be back next week.

As for the Kings, losing Gilbert for any length of time would hurt. The club is already down the services of Brayden McNabb, which has forced head coach Darryl Sutter to utilize the likes of Matt Greene and Derek Forbort on the blueline. The veteran Green only appeared in three games last year, missing extensive time with injury, while Forbort has just 24 games of NHL experience.

Gilbert has been a pretty steady contributor this year. He’s averaging over 16 minutes per night through eight games, and has registered three assists.

Prior to getting hurt, Letang averaged over 26 minutes per game, on par with the heavy workloads he’s shouldered over the last few seasons. His return also rounds out Pittsburgh’s d-man corps, as he’ll skate alongside Brian Dumoulin on the top pairing.